MLB News: Preseason MLB Power Rankings As Of 3/24/16

March 24, 2016

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We are a little over a week from the 2016 MLB regular season taking place and giving gamblers that ultimate daily grind. There’s no other sport that compares when trying to handicap baseball season and the constant games that take place each day. Well, before we get into picking winners for you folks, let’s take a look into how each team stacks up heading into the season.

Here is your 2016 MLB power rankings for week one.

USA TODAY Sports

1. KansasCityRoyals - The Kansas City Royals are the defending World Series champs and didn’t lose much from their team. The Royals aren’t a perfect team, but they have a proven lineup that can produce runs with any team in the league.

2. ChicagoCubs - The Chicago Cubs were a force last season, and that was without John Lackey, Ben Zobrist and Jason Heyward. There’s a reason why the Cubs are the most bet team to win this year's World Series.

3. NewYorkMets - The New York Mets showed last year that they’re a legit title contender. A pitching trio of Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Matt Harvey may be the best in baseball.

4. SanFranciscoGiants - It’s an even year, meaning the Giants are going to be a team to watch this season. The additions of Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija, while having a healthy roster overall makes San Francisco possibly the team to beat in the NL West.

5. TorontoBlueJays - The Blue Jays do have to find replacements in their rotation, but big bats in Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion make Toronto still the scariest offensive team in the majors.

6. HoustonAstros - There may not be a more fun team to watch than the Houston Astros. It’s also scary that these young Astros got playoff experience last season. Watch out for Houston.

7. BostonRedSox - David Price gives the Boston Red Sox a true ace in the rotation, and you can’t expect both Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez to struggle back-to-back years. Boston will also be playing hard to send David Ortiz off a winner in his last year.

8. St. LouisCardinals - You simply can never count out the St. Louis Cardinals, and they will be better than last season with a healthy Matt Holliday and Adam Wainwright. Inconsistent offense or not, the Cards are still a legit threat to come out of the National League.

9. PittsburghPirates - The Pittsburgh Pirates have made the playoffs three straight years but have yet to get over that hump. Even with the playoff struggles, the Pirates are one of the most consistent teams in baseball and should be considered top-10.

10. LosAngelesDodgers - While the Los Angeles Dodgers do have a new manager, they still have the best pitcher in baseball in Clayton Kershaw and a lineup that is flat out loaded, especially if Yasiel Puig can have a bounce back season.

11. TexasRangers - The Texas Rangers showed just how scary they can be on the offensive end. Now, with a full season from Cole Hamels and the return of Yu Darvish, the Rangers are ready to make a statement to the rest of the American League.

12. WashingtonNationals - The Washington Nationals have one of the better pitching rotations in baseball and a NL MVP candidate in Bryce Harper. The talent is there but after last season’s failures, it’s hard to completely trust the Nationals.

13. ArizonaDiamondbacks - The Arizona Diamondbacks were good last year, and now they added Shelby Miller and Zack Greinke to the rotation. The Diamondbacks are a good dark horse World Series bet this season.

14. NewYorkYankees - The New York Yankees are old and have a ton of personal issues with their pitching rotation. Still, the Yanks are one of these teams that usually finds of way, and they have the experience to prevail again this season.

15. LosAngelesAngels - It was a frustrating year for the Los Angeles Angels, but never doubt a team led by Mike Trout. There’s also potential for a breakout season from Andrew Heaney.

16. DetroitTigers - With key cornerstones already in place, the Detroit Tigers added Cameron Maybin, Jordan Zimmermann and Francisco Rodriguez. The Tigers have big time upside this season in terms of future betting.

17. ChicagoWhiteSox - The Chicago White Sox showed flashes of potential last season, and they hope for more consistency after adding Brett Lawrie and Todd Frazier. The White Sox are mighty interesting heading into April.

18. TampaBayRays - A pitching rotation led by Chris Archer, Jake Odorizzi and Drew Smyly gives the Tampa Bay Rays a chance to compete in a wide open AL East.

19. ClevelandIndians - The Cleveland Indians have the coach, the pitching and a young talent in Francisco Lindor to be sneaky good this season. It’s all about putting things together this season.

20. MiamiMarlins - It’s all about health for the Miami Marlins, as they also have great upside if Jose Fernandez and Giancarlo Stanton can give them full seasons. Don Mattingly is working with a young, promising team.

21. SeattleMariners - The Seattle Mariners could make some splashes if Robinson Cano returns to form and the offense wakes up. However, I feel like we’ve been saying that for a while now.

22. MinnesotaTwins - While the Minnesota Twins likely aren’t going to surprise us like they did last year, they do have some intriguing young talent in Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton. Minny is sitting pretty for the future.

23. BaltimoreOrioles - The Baltimore Orioles will have to score a ton of runs in order to be a .500 team due to a pitching rotation that’s not exactly pretty. Chris Davis, Adam Jones and Manny Machado can only do so much.

24. ColoradoRockies - The Colorado Rockies are pretty much in the same boat as the Orioles, having to win games 9-8. The Rockies had an ERA of 5.04 and didn’t add any arms to change that brutal number.

25. SanDiegoPadres - Remember when the San Diego Padres were the trendy pick to make some noise. Yikes. Matt Kemp must feel like he’s stuck on an island.

26. MilwaukeeBrewers - The Milwaukee Brewers have a lot of young talent that should set them up for brighter days ahead. Unfortunately, there’s going to be a lot of rainy days in Milwaukee this year.

27. OaklandAthletics - A trio of Khris Davis, Billy Burns and Sonny Gray will make the Oakland Athletics somewhat watchable this season. But that’s probably not going to be enough in the competitive AL West.

28. AtlantaBraves - I’m not sure how the Atlanta Braves are going to score runs this season, and Julio Teheran is the only starting pitcher worth anything at this point. It’s going to be another ugly season for Atlanta.

29. CincinnatiReds - This is a rebuilding year after the Cincinnati Reds lost majority of their key faces. A young pitching staff of Raisel Iglesias and Anthony DeSclafani will decide the future of the Reds.

30. PhiladelphiaPhillies - The only thing the Philadelphia Phillies can hold their hat on this season is that they’re not the Philadelphia 76ers.

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